


A Beautiful Nightmare

by unionforj



Category: Union J (Band)
Genre: But not REALLY Character Death, Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-31
Updated: 2012-10-31
Packaged: 2017-12-06 18:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/739003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unionforj/pseuds/unionforj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Josh wants is for George to laugh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Beautiful Nightmare

Josh looked at George with soft eyes. The brown-eyed boy hadn’t left his bed in ages, preferring to just lie there, wasting away. He had already been thin- after years of being that fat kid who couldn’t run, he went to the gym each day, counted all his calories, ate no carbohydrates. He stayed within his BMI, but he had already been on his lower end of it.

Josh doubted George was still in it. “Come on, Georgie. You have to get up at some point.”

But George couldn’t hear him. He couldn’t see him. He couldn’t touch him.

It didn’t take Josh long to figure it out. He was dead, and now the love of his life was dying because of it. It felt like his soul was being chewed away, slowly and painfully, as sweet, adorable, kind, amazing George Shelley wasted away there in his bed, his hair uncombed, in wrinkled, over worn clothing. He hadn’t gone grocery shopping in weeks. There was nothing in the fridge but things he could eat with no preparation, void of nutrition.

 

George was dying, and if Josh weren’t already dead, it would be killing him too.

“Please, George, you need to get up.” Josh kneeled by his bedside, putting his ghostly hand on George’s hollow cheek. “You need to take care of yourself.”

But George couldn’t hear him, couldn’t feel the echo of Josh’s hand. Josh choked out a tear, trying not to cry. His emotions to great, and soon he was screaming, trying to get George’s attention. “Please, please, please!”

Things started to shake, when he got like this, rattling. George sat up a bit, watching with a blank face as his alarm clock sailed off of his nightstand with a loud crack, pieces flying off of it. George whimpered, stepping gingerly off of the bed, falling to his knees beside Josh. Josh’s cries subsided, watching his love look around the room with watery, broken eyes.

“Josh?” George asked quietly.

“Yes, yes it’s me, Georgie, it’s me.” Josh said desperately. He crawled until he was facing the brown-eyed boy. George was shaking on his hands and knees, his elbows weakening. George keened, tears overflowing in his eyes and he fell to the floor, lying in fetal position. “Please, George, please don’t do this to yourself.”

He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t help. He was dead, a ghost, haunting his loved one and watching him destroy himself. Josh wanted to cry, but he had no eyes. He wanted to die all over again, but he was already dead. He wanted to live, but that was impossible.

A bell rang, shattering the sounds of weeping. George sat up again, rubbing furiously at his cheeks. He stood up on shaky legs, and started making way to the front of the flat. Josh quickly darted after him.

George pulled the door open slightly, guarding it with his body so no one could force their way in. Josh positioned himself to the side, so he could peer through the crack. George’s voice cracked as he asked, “Hello?”

Two boys stood there, one with sandy brown hair and one with black, both with wide, worried brown eyes.

“Uh, hi,” the black haired one said. He was clearly a few years older than George and Josh- well, when Josh was alive- but still rather young, but his forehead was creased with concern. “We live a few doors down, and we heard a crash?”

“The others we’ve checked with all pointed here,” The other boy cut in, eyeing George up and down. “We just want to know, are you okay?”

“No. No he isn’t.” Josh yelled. Of course, they didn’t even blink an eye in his direction. “You need to call someone, a doctor, a therapist, a fucking hug specialist!”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” George nodded quickly. He swallowed, and looked over his shoulder, before turning back. “I knocked my alarm clock over. It sort of was more dramatic than it could have been.”

“Are you sure?” The dark haired one asked. His eyes were tracing the area behind George, where Josh hovered unseen. Josh tilted his head curiously. The boy wasn’t looking at him, rather through him, but his gaze seemed to stay where Josh’s body would have been, if he were alive. “It was rather loud.”

“It’s fine!” George insisted. “I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

George shut the door firmly, bolting it shut. His body fell, leaning against the door in exhaustion.

And Josh couldn’t take it any more. He ran through the door, stepping out to see the two boys there.

“Well, there’s not much we can do now.”

“I don’t know, Jaymi,” The dark haired one said. “Something didn’t seem right.”

“We don’t even know him.” Jaymi argued. Josh glared at this Jaymi, wishing strongly that being dead came with more than knocking over alarm clocks. “I mean, we can’t just barge in to investigate. It looked like he was alone.”

The one that wasn’t Jaymi sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. They had walked a few doors away now, and Josh jogged to catch up, to step in between them to face Not-Jaymi. “Go back. Please.”

Not-Jaymi frowned, crinkling his brow again. Josh felt his stomach leap. It was likely just the man arguing with himself but it was something. “Please, go back! He’s alone, he’s sad, he’s scared. He’s not getting out of bed for much, he hasn’t talked to his mum in weeks. I can’t let him be alone. So go back. Make him let you in.”

Not-Jaymi shook his head. “I think we should go back.”

“We’ve got dinner in the oven.”

“Fine then, you go make sure the flat doesn’t burn down,” Not-Jaymi waved his hand. “But, I’m going to…”

“Yeah.” Jaymi nodded, and walked back.

“Thank you, so much,” Josh said. “Come on. Come on.”

He walked back slowly, stopping when he realized that Not-Jaymi wasn’t following him. Not-Jaymi hung his head, staring at his shoes. “This is insane. He said he was fine. This is insane.”

“Come on then. This way. Move your feet. Go back to him.” Josh insisted. Not-Jaymi took a few more steps forward. “Good! Good! He needs you. You need to help him. It’s incredibly important.”

Not-Jaymi started walking back to (Josh and) George’s flat, and Josh fist pumped the air, ignoring how Not-Jaymi was muttering to himself about being crazy.

“You’re not crazy, you’re doing a very important thing. Go make sure he’s okay. Don’t leave him.” Josh insisted. Not-Jaymi knocked on the door again. “Don’t let him force you away.”

That was how they started. George was a secretive, nervous, bit overweight and horribly shy barista while Josh was a curious, prying night student. He had to know every thing George was hiding, and George refused to bug for the longest time. The longer he hid, the more curious Josh got. He wouldn’t let George alone until the brown eyed boy with the most beautiful laugh Josh had ever heard told him everything there was to know about him. About the relentless taunting he heard each day in school. About the horrid bully’s that snapped his wrist like a twig. About the horrible things he saw in the mirror.

But things got better. He started to like the things he saw in his reflection. He switched schools, and eventually, they moved in together, and all those horrible things he head way back when were replaced by the sweet nonsense Josh whispered in his ears.

But now Josh was dead. But he couldn’t do anything to keep George happy. Smiling, with that damned gorgeous laugh of his. Except this.

Not-Jaymi knocked with a nervous hand. Then they waited.

“Don’t move. He’s in there, and you know it.” Josh told him. Not-

Jaymi drummed his fingers on his thigh, breathing out slowly. “Wait for him. He’s worth it.”

The door opened apprehensively, and Not-Jaymi sighed in relief. “Hi again.”

“Can I help you?” George asked.

“I’m sorry about this, I-… I don’t know quite what’s gone over me.” Not-Jaymi apologized. “But… I just… I get the feeling that… you’re… lonely?”

Then, out of no where, the softest chuckle escaped George’s lips. And in all his time of being dead, Josh smiled. Because it was still so beautiful.

“I’m sorry it’s just,” George swallowed, letting the door open a bit more. “That’s just something Josh would say.”

“Josh?”

“My… Well he was,” George’s eyes fell. “My fiancée, he died. About two months ago.”

“It’s been that long?” Josh found himself asking.

“Oh god,” Not-Jaymi whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

“Me too.”

“Help him.” Josh demanded. “Help him.”

“Do you… do you want to talk about it?” Not-Jaymi asked.

“Look at him. He needs more than talking!” Josh snapped angrily. Not-Jaymi literally winced in reaction.

“My roommate, he’s made spaghetti and meat balls, I could bring some over, and we could, you know. Talk.” Not-Jaymi shook himself, rubbing his forehead. “I’m sorry, that sounded- I’m not asking you out- not that your not handsome or anything you really are, it’s just-“

“I understand.” George interrupted. Not-Jaymi smiled.

“You just look like you could use a friend.” Not-Jaymi amended. “So, how about I bring over some plates?”

George nodded. “Alright. Thank you…

“JJ. JJ Hamblett. I’m about three, four doors over, with Jaymi.”

“Thank you, JJ. I’m George.” They shook hands, George doing his best to smile while JJ grinned until his cheeks hurt. JJ walked away, jogging back to his flat and George shut the door behind him.

And Josh felt so light. Flashes of scenes flew before his eyes like a movie: George smiling again, George getting back to his healthy weight, JJ holding his hands for weeks before daring to kiss him, dates at the movies, dinners, Jaymi making him laugh, JJ buying him a floppy eared puppy- George breaking down when JJ asks him to marry him because he’s scared of JJ dying “just like Josh”, wearing a white suit to the ceremony.

Kids. Two girls and a baby boy.

And Josh laughed. He laughed so hard because it was filled with that beautiful sound George made when he laughed. And that was all he ever wanted. For George to laugh.

Josh felt light, and so, so happy, as he floated up, up, up into his next life.


End file.
